Why I will miss Raymond Cohen, Abilities magazine founder

Abilities remains the preeminent source of information and advocacy for the country’s disability community.

Raymond Cohen, who created Abilities magazine, was one of Canada's most passionate and influential advocates for disability rights and inclusion. He died March 22, 2013, from complications with hepatitis C.

As a 9-year-old, Raymond Cohen would dress as Zorro, in cape, mask and sword, saving imaginary people in distress. That theme defined his life, one spent relentlessly pushing for a universally accessible society, where everyone belongs and has value. Cohen used that passion to create the Canadian Abilities Foundation and Abilities magazine in 1986, which remains the preeminent source of information and advocacy for the country’s disability community.

Cohen died March 22 from complications with hepatitis C, leaving a rich and overflowing legacy that taught entire communities how to look at the world differently.

He was charming and obstinate, giving out warm hugs and bad puns in equal measure. A consummate connector, he was happy to bring people together, then sit back and let them make their own magic. He didn’t need credit.

But he did have opinions and used his editorials in each of the magazine’s quarterly editions to hammer out his views of how to right the wrongs he saw people with disabilities endure in every facet of life.

With Abilities, he’s left a continuing source of inspiration, information and opportunity.